This blog provides delicious,traditional, vegetarian, South Indian Recipes from my mother Chitra Amma's kitchen. There are few 'world recipes' as well!
Thanks to Shravan, Pranav, Akash, Tara, Guggs, Shankari, Adu, Dhrithi, and Appa Ramachandran for the photos!

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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

'Benda Kaalu On Toast' - The unique title of the latest play by the renowned playwright Girish Karnad raked up my nostalgia, and fond memories of my childhood started brimming in my mind. I remembered the delicious Peas On Toast which I enjoyed with my parents and siblings at Sri Kanteerava Narasimharaja Sports Club, Mysore. Secondly I felt an unsupressable urge to taste THE DISH - BENDA KAALU ON TOAST - NOW! Both the thought processes culminated in bringing out this post!

3. Crush the ginger and garlic together using a mortar and pestle and keep aside.

4. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds.

5. When the seeds puff up add the crushed ginger and garlic.

6. Add the finely chopped onion and fry till they become golden in colour.

7. Keep a low flame and add the sambar powder and salt.

8. Retain one table spoon of Kaalu and stir the rest into the pan.

9. Mash the retained Kaalu with one table spoon of chopped coriander leaves using a mixer or a mortar and pestle since the quantity is not much.

10. Add the mashed coriander and beans mixture to the Kaalu in the pan and stir well.

11. Cook till the Kaalu curry becomes thick and comes together.

12. Mix in the lime juice and the remaining coriander leaves.

Benda Kaalu is now ready.

INGREDIENTS TO PREPARE THE TAVA TOAST

Bred Slices of your choice - 4

Unsalted butter - as required

METHOD

1. Place a thin slice of butter on the tava and heat it on low flame.

2. When the butter starts melting, place a slice of bread on the center and toast on low heat.

3. Gently push the bread slice around the tava using a spatula so that it absorbs all the butter melting around.

4. When the bottom becomes golden in colour place another thin slice of butter on top of the bread slice. Do not flip.

5. Top it with a thick layer of the Benda Kaalu.

6. Remove it on to a serving plate.

7. Repeat the procedure for the rest of the toasts.

Start biting into the luscious layer of the benda kaalu and proceed into the soft and buttery top portion of the bread slice, and experience the bliss when you arrive at the heavenly golden crunch at the bottom.The effect of the explosion of the flavour and taste of Benda kaalu On Toast on the taste buds is tantalizing! Do not forget to sip a strong filter coffee in between bites to enhance the rich experience.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Yelchi Hannu / Elanda Pazham is offered to Sun God during Sankranti pooja. In the evening children are seated on a decorated plank and an elderly lady of the family waves a cup full of Ellu Bella, Yelchi Hannu and coins around their heads which is later thrown far away from their sight.This ritual is supposed to ward off any negative energy ( evil eyes) which might have befallen the children. On the next day rice balls, Pongal, Sugar Cane pieces, pieces of Banana fruit and Yelchi Hannu are served on a turmeric leaf and left in the court yard for the crows to feast. After all these rituals are over, I usually discard the remaining YelchiHannu as no one likes to eat the strong smelling fruit.
This time I tried sneaking the Yelchi Hannu into a Chutney and surprisingly every one seemed to relish it!

INGREDIENTS

Yelchi Hannu - 1 cup

Chopped coriander leaves - 1 cup

Salt - 3/4 tsp

Powdered jaggery - 1 tsp

Sesame oil - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 pinch

Split Black gram dal - 1 tsp

Bengal gram dal - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 3

Asafoetida - 1 pinch

METHOD

1. Wash the Yelchi Hannu thoroughly and remove the stems and the seeds.

2. Retain the skin and the flesh of the fruits. Do not worry if you find no flesh in some fruits. The dry peels can still be used for the Chutney as they will be quite tangy.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.

4. When the mustard seeds splutter add the dals and fry till golden in colour.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Starting from Uttaana Dwaadashi my mother-in-law saw to it that Nellikkai / Amlawas included in our daily menu as long as the gooseberry season lasted. She prepared Chutneys, Pickles, Pachchadies, Tokkus and Spicy Rice using the wonder berry which is filled with many essential nutrients beneficial to health. Of all the Nellikkai dishes prepared Mor Nellikkai was and is still my favourite. I love to start my meal with this delicious pickle mixed with at least one morsel of rice.

INGREDIENTS

Gooseberries/ Nellikkai - 1/2 kg ( 25 numbers )

Curd - 3 cups

Chilly powder - 2 tbsps

Salt - 2 tbsps

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Sesame oil - 3 tbsps

TO BE POWDERED TOGETHER ( RAW )

Mustard seeds - 2tbsp

Fenugreek seeds - 2 tbsp

METHOD

1. Wash and wipe the Nellikkais dry.

2. Make small incisions between the segments of the Nellikkai without cutting them into separate pieces.

3. Heat sesame oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add the mustard seeds.

4. When the mustard seeds splutter add asafoetida and the slit Nellikkai.

5. Add half of the salt and stir well and lower the flame.

6. Cover it with a lid. The Nellikkai will release juice and cook in its own steam.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Hituku Bele is a delicacy which is enjoyed through out the Kaalu season. Hituku Bele blends beautifully with any given dish, yet retains the distinct flavour and taste of its own. Field beans are first soaked in water for a long time.Then they are squeezed or pinched ( the process is called Hitukodu in Kannada ) one at a time so that the Bele / lentil jumps out of the skin! The process is laborious but the outcome is delicious. Now a days Hituku Bele is readily available in the market during the season.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Kadubu ( Pidi Kozhukattai in Tamil ) was an oft prepared traditional dish during our childhood days. And Kaalu was a must in the dish during the season. We relished the delicious 'Palagaaram' with our great grand mother who lived up to her 96th year. Now a days Kadubu /Pidi kozhukattai has become a rarity due to the hustle bustle of our daily routine. Children do not miss traditional dishes as they are overwhelmed by the multinational cuisines which are easily available now. But my grand children did enjoy the treat when I prepared Kaalu Kadubu for this Kaalu series!

I have used red rice for preparing a healthy variation of Kaalu Kadubu / Kaalu Kozhukattai.

5. When the dals become golden in colour add broken red chillies, asafoetida and curry leaves.

6. Pour 4 cups of water into the seasoning and add the fresh coconut gratings, cooked Kaalu and salt.

7. When the water starts boiling lower the flame and gently add the broken rice and keep stirring to avoid lumps.

8. Increase heat and cook till the rice mixture comes together in a lump.

9. Grease the idly plates.

10. Wet your palms and scoop out a ball of the semi cooked rice mixture and shape it into a Kadubu / Kozhukattai.

11. Do not press too hard as it will make the Kadubu / Kozhukattai very hard.

12. Make all the Kadubus / Kozhukattais similarly, place them on idly plates and steam them in a pressure cooker for 15 minutes without the weight.

13. Open the lid when the steam has fully subsided. The Kadubus will tend to crumble when they are very hot. Carefully remove the Kaalu Kadubus / Kaalu kozhukattais and place them separately on a plate without piling them up together.

Top the flavoursome Kaalu Kadubu / Kaalu Kozhukattai with a spoon of fresh ghee and relish with Green Chilly Puli Kozhambu.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

When my children were still in school, Christmas holidays were filled with great fun and excitement. Inspired by the pleasant weather my husband came up with sudden picnic ideas which thrilled the children. Some times it would be to a definite picnic destination, and some other time it used to be a pleasant long drive on the state high way where in we explored new places of our own for picnicking. Though we liked carrying various Christmas goodies from Nilgiris, and a crate of Fanta from B.G.C.,we always preferred home cooked food for the main course. Since Kaalu was always handy during that season, many a time Kaalu pulav with a raita was voted for as our picnic lunch.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Paruppadai has become our regular breakfast dish because of its low G I. Onion Paruppadai, Cabbage Paruppadai or Paruppadai with fenugreek leaves taste delicious when savoured hot. One Adai is sufficient to sustain my husband till he finishes one round of his 18 hole golf game. Since it is Kaalu season Paruppadai with kaalu has become a regular feature on our breakfast menu.

2. Next morning drain and grind the soaked ingredients with salt, asafoetida and peeled fresh ginger into a very coarse and thick batter with out adding water. Add cumin seeds and run the mixer for half a minute more.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Morkuzhambu is served with rice along with Sambhar on all joyous occasions like weddings and other festivities. Kaalu Morkuzhambu is not only a delicacy but it also adds beauty to a banana leaf meal where an array of other colourful dishes are served.

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Hello

Welcome to Chitra Amma's Kitchen.

I am Dibs. I am a born Foodie. I love to cook; love to eat; love to feed folks who appreciate good food. Blogging provides me a great way of documenting my mother, Chitra’s recipes, as a ready reference irrespective which time zone I live in. Amma honestly makes the best food I've ever had, and somehow, the anecdotes she tells us, make the dishes taste all the better.Most posts here are written by my mother Chitra. It’s her recipes, along with related reminiscences of people, places and anecdotes. She writes, I post!What started for a lark, has now become a serious hobby, drawing in participation from the whole family. My father, S.R. Ramachandran has started clicking away every dish made at home! Aunts, cousins, siblings, contribute to photos, and ask for recipes.We try to illustrate implements such as utensils, grinding stones and so on from the ‘pre-electric-mixer’ days wherever possible. We hope this will make an interesting read for future generations, on how food was cooked in earlier times!The site is still in its infancy, and slowly evolving, as our skills improve! We invite your comments, ideas, and questions, and will attempt answering them.

Thank you for your visit, and we hope you enjoy your stay at Chitra Amma’s Kitchen.